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Introduction
Population mental health and well-being are high on the international health agenda given the prevalence of depression as a major disabling illness. 1 2 Although anti-depressant medication remains the mainstay of treatment in primary care, its effectiveness has been called into question. 3 4 There is an expanding evidence base in support of a range of treatment options including psychosocial interventions and comprehensive disease management programmes. 5-7 Within these we note increasing interest in narrative 8 and bibliotherapeutic 9 approaches, which typically emphasise the importance of meaningful social engagement; a sense of value, purpose or comprehensibility in respect of one's self and life; a sense of agency and of manageability in relation to the problems and demands posed by life; and the capacity to "tell a good story about oneself". 10-12 As the last possibility is likely to decrease in the culturally adverse setting of an in-patient ward, or in the context of a diagnosis which offers a passive story of a 'patient' who is ill and in need of professional cure, recent initiatives have stressed the importance of preventive interventions which can reach individuals before such adverse personal stories take hold.
Get into Reading
The principal feature of the Get into Reading (GiR) model is shared reading of serious literature within a group setting. 'Serious' is used in preference to 'classic' which risks confusion with 'classical' (ie, Latin/Greek) literature. The term has a long history-The Oxford Professorship of Poetry was established for "the advancement of more serious literature both sacred and human" 13 -and is widely used by writers and literary critics to distinguish literature that addresses important human issues, such as those concerning social and moral behaviour, from, for example, ephemeral writings (comics, popular magazines) and genre fiction (eg, detective novels, 'chick lit').
All material is read aloud in the session itself and open-ended discussion is encouraged by the facilitator. Group members participate voluntarily as they wish and interact in relation to what is happening in the text itself (in terms of narrative, characters, place and setting, themes, description and language, for example) and what may be happening within themselves as individuals (in terms of reflections about personal feelings and thoughts, opinions and experiences, for example) as an articulated and evolved response...